Our story about parenthood and our journey through life looking a lot different than we expected.

The First 36 Hours

Corrie wasn’t able to meet Brooklyn until after midnight that first night because she was recovering from surgery. I was able to show her pictures on my phone, but that first meeting in the NICU was beautiful. After piecing together a couple hours of sleep that first night, Corrie and I met with Dr. Lloyd, the neonatologist who had been taking care of Brooklyn in the NICU overnight. We didn’t expect to meet with him so early in the morning, but he came down to Corrie’s room to let us know Brooklyn had stopped breathing several times throughout the night. We were shocked, didn’t know what to think, and scared. We knew she had a heart defect but our expectation was that she would be fine for several weeks or months before needing surgery. These breathing issues were unexpected and a complete surprise. Dr. Lloyd told us that they had started some tests overnight and would continue running tests throughout the day to find out what was causing her to stop breathing.

We were able to see Brooklyn several times throughout the day as they continued to run tests. She eventually was intubated (breathing tube) to help her out. They ran an EEG scan (brain scan) late in the day that revealed she was having seizures, and the seizures were ‘presenting’ themselves in these breathing problems. We learned infant seizures don’t always show up in the normal shaking we associate them with in adults. The neurologist at Dell Children’s Hospital requested an emergency transfer of Brooklyn to Dell from Seton. So, Brooklyn and I said bye to Corrie and family and headed across town to Dell. This was incredibly difficult for us. We hated being separated from each other.